Cleanser compositions are required to have various functions, such as emulsifying or solubilizing power acting on contaminants (e.g. oil) and cleansing power. Among them, a skin or hair cleanser composition, contrast to any industrial cleanser composition, is required to provide a good feeling upon use such as high foaming and good touch of foam during cleansing, good skin or hair sensation during rinsing or after drying, smooth finger combability or softness of the hair when it is applied to the hair, and easy rinsability or moisturized sensation on the skin after drying when it is applied to the hair. In order to meet such requirements, the skin or hair cleanser composition contains various silicones and oil ingredients. However, such ingredients cause many problems, when used in combination. For example, the performances of foam, such as foaming power and foam quality, worsen.
In order to improve the foaming property and viscosity adjustment of cleanser compositions, various foam boosters/thickening agents have been developed so far, and fatty acid alkanolamides, fatty acid amidopropylbetaines and the like are used as the general-purpose boosters/thickening agents. However, these nitrogen-containing compounds could invite the time-lapse change of color tone under some conditions. Specifically, fatty acid diethanolamide is suspected of carcinogenicity, where it is a nitroso compound. For these reasons, nitrogen-free thickening agents/foam boosters are in great demand.
Patent Document 1 describes, as a nitrogen-free thickening agent/foam booster, a cleanser composition excellent in foaming property, which composition is obtained using a monohydric alcohol having from 8 to 12 carbon atoms as a starting material and using, in combination therewith, a (poly)ethylene glycol alkyl ether with 1 to 3 moles of ethylene oxide and an anionic surfactant and/or an amphoteric surfactant.
Patent Documents 2 and 3 also describe an alkylene oxide adduct of a higher aliphatic alcohol having short-chain ethylene oxide or propylene oxide introduced therein and they show examples of improving a foaming property or low-temperature stability.
The compositions described in these patent documents, however, are not capable of satisfying a good feeling upon use, albeit with their foaming property. Moreover, these compositions have not been able to provide a sufficient feeling upon use required for skin or hair cleanser compositions.
As mentioned above, none of the prior documents describe a skin or hair cleanser composition that can meet requirements for an excellent foaming property and an excellent feeling upon use alike. Thus there has been a demand for the development of a skin or hair cleanser composition capable of satisfying both an excellent foaming property and a good feeling upon use from the outset of cleansing until after drying.    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2004-277685    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-11-12594    [Patent Document 3] JP-A-07-53991